A conventional receiving apparatus for an orthogonal frequency division multiplexed signal is configured (see, for example, Patent Document 1) so that when it demodulates the carriers modulated by QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) or QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation), it estimates the characteristics, more specifically the amount of change in amplitude and phase, of each carrier on the channel (this process will also be referred to as ‘channel estimation’ below) by using known signals (also referred to as ‘pilot signals’ below) that are pre-inserted into the transmitted signal, and modifies the amplitude and phase of the carrier (also referred to below as ‘equalizing’ the carrier) on the basis of the estimated result (the estimated channel characteristic). If the pilot signals are not inserted continuously in a prescribed carrier, that is, if the carriers are inserted at certain intervals of time, then in channel estimation, pilot signals are extracted from a plurality of symbols and a channel estimate for the desired symbol is obtained therefrom.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-292122 (page 11, FIG. 1)